11 ways to help your employees manage holiday stress

Whether you love or dread them, for many people, the holidays often trigger heightened emotions and increased stress. It’s a time where there’s pressure to be happy, involved, outgoing and to spend far more money than usual. People frequently internalize pressure to create perfect holidays for children and other loved ones.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of activities, parties and gatherings, feelings of loneliness and being an outsider can emerge. People with substance use disorders may increase their consumption of alcohol or drugs to get through the season. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a common depression that more than 3 million Americans experience each winter. In the workplace, countless employees feel the mounting pressure of end-of-year deadlines and quotas to meet. And many people are missing or grieving family and friends with whom they associate past holiday joys.

The effect of holiday stress on your workforce

Kristen Lippencott, manager of well-being strategies for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, said workforces are far from exempt from holiday stresses. Lippencott works with groups to help them understand what well-being services are available to them and help them implement wellness and well-being employee programs.

“During December especially, normal workplace stress and tension simmering under the surface can build like steam in a pressure cooker, affecting employees’ work performance, behavior and relationships,” she said. “It’s important to recognize signs that employees may be experiencing uncomfortable or unusual levels of pressure or feeling weighed down by depression from any number of causes this time of year. Equally important is understanding what you can do as an employer to help release some of that pressure or direct them to professionals who can help. Employers and managers can take positive actions to keep a mental health challenge from becoming a crisis. In addition, these actions may also build trust and loyalty.”

According to a November 2023 poll by the American Psychological Association, 89% of Americans report experiencing holiday stress, citing concerns including money struggles, anticipating a family conflict and missing loved ones as triggers. Among the findings:

• Nearly half (49%) of U.S. adults report “moderate” stress between November and January, with 41% reporting higher levels of stress than at other times. For 43% of Americans, holiday stress hampers their ability to enjoy them.
• About one in five people who celebrate Jewish or other non-Christian holidays report stress stemming from the holidays not reflecting their culture. They also report feeling alienated from the holiday season. Forty-two percent of Jewish holiday celebrants and 55% of other non-Christian celebrants fear discrimination for their religion, traditions or culture.
• While 70% of adults who experience holiday stress said they are comfortable talking with others about their stress, only 41% said they open up to others about their negative feelings.
• Almost 40% of American adults reported using negative coping mechanisms to help them get through the holidays, including isolating themselves, changing eating habits or relying on substances to feel better.

And a study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that 64% of Americans with mental illness reported that the holidays make their conditions worse.

Signs your workers are experiencing a mental health challenge

SIDECAPS is a mnemonic device to help remember the warning signs of developing behavioral health problems:

Sleep changes: Increased sleep during the day or decreased sleep at night
Interest: Loss of interest in activities that used to be interesting.
Depression: Feelings of worthlessness, not having value
Energy: Lack of energy
Concentration/Cognition: Reduced cognition and/or difficulty concentrating
Appetite (or weight loss): Usually declined appetite, sometimes increased
Psychomotor: Agitation/anxiety or lethargy
Suicidal or homicidal ideation: Feelings of harming oneself or others

These symptoms also incorporate the symptoms of SAD. The holiday season can invoke short-lived mood changes in anyone, but issues like SAD can have longer-term effects on wellbeing and performance. Light therapy is one common treatment for SAD, but there are others available.

Other signs of holiday stress include becoming withdrawn or irritable; altered appearance, especially dishevelment; lack of focus; missed deadlines; diminished work; and absenteeism.

Lippencott stressed that knowing these signs and symptoms does not qualify you to diagnose a behavioral health condition. Rather, it’s to help alert you to when your employees may need extra consideration and guidance to any resources you may be able to provide.

Steps to help workers with behavioral health problems

There are no simple answers to managing holiday stress, but these 12 tips can help alleviate the worst of it.

1. When you notice workers under unusual stress, find a discreet time and place to ask them directly about how they’re feeling, making clear they are not “in trouble” for having a hard time and won’t be penalized for sharing their concerns. Having a manager who notices and cares enough to ask them about their mental health in private can be affirming, whether or not they open up to you.
2. Help employees manage pending end-of-year deadlines or quotas that can increase stress. This might involve prioritizing projects, bringing on other team members to help or offering to help shepherd a project to completion.
3. Reiterate benefits you might have available like your Employee Assistance Program, virtual behavioral health services, flexible work schedules and, when possible, remote work. Even when you have these tools for employees to use, actively encouraging them to engage with them can make all the difference in their comfort accessing these benefits.
4. Encourage employees to take vacation days before or after the holidays. Time away from work can be enormously beneficial to reduce stress and allow time with family and friends, or to recharge in healthy ways.
5. Time off can also include mini-breaks during the workday, such as encouraging staff to take a quick walk outside or inviting a yoga instructor to give a short lesson on poses that can help people recharge at their desk, even in their professional wear.
6. Reiterate the importance of staying home or working from home when employees are sick. This reduces their stress when they feel ill and the chances of illness spreading among your workforce.
7. Demonstrate respect for and curiosity about all holidays, and honor requests for time off for whatever holiday employees celebrate. Without being judgmental or invasive, asking employees and colleagues open-ended questions about their holiday traditions can help them feel less alienated and more seen as someone whose religion or culture has value.
8. Office holiday gatherings—even just going to lunch with the team—can be low-key ways to include colleagues in social events. While some employees’ calendars are overbooked during the holidays, others have few invitations to events or people to accompany them.
9. Provide opportunities for employees to learn about financial wellness from webinars or retirement benefits partners. These could include holiday-specific savings accounts, free resources to reduce expenditure or other ways to budget for increased expenses.
10. Send a thoughtful card to your employees who have taken bereavement leave over the past year. It’s a small gesture that can mean a lot to someone struggling with grief.
11. Start employee resource groups for different subgroups (women, people of color, mental health, veterans, young professionals, etc.) for employees to join and connect with others who share some experiences with them. If you already have ERGs in place, encourage them to find helpful ways to provide outreach to their members during the holidays.

Behavioral health resources available to your employees and their families

There are resources available when your employees need more professional behavioral health support than an employer or manager can personally provide. The Arkansas Blue Cross Behavioral Health team is available at 800-225-1891 from 8:30-4:30 CST, Monday through Friday

ARConnectNow

All Arkansans, regardless of insurance or ability to pay, have a resource they can call for behavioral health care. Offered through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and funded in part through an Arkansas Blue & You Foundation grant, ARConnectNow is a useful resource to share with your workforce. This comprehensive behavioral health program provides care for mental health issues from anxiety and depression to major psychiatric diagnoses, as well as substance use disorders.

Arkansans who call the ARConnectNow hotline can get connected with a licensed counselor and up to six free counseling sessions for mental health or substance use disorder challenges and crises. ARConnectNow has a hotline (501-526-3563 or 800-482-9921) 24/7 and a virtual clinic Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, email arconnect@uams.edu.

Normalize the Conversation

Different health plans have different levels of behavioral healthcare available. Some of our health plans include virtual behavioral health services from partners like Lucent, Brightline and Bright Heart Health. All fully insured plans include three free behavioral health visits.

Members of Arkansas Blue Cross, HealthAdvantage or BlueAdvantage plans can visit normalizetheconversation.com for resources to help anyone covered on their plan. Besides encouraging open, natural conversation about what some view as taboo mental health topics, the site can link members to an overview of what behavioral health resources are available on their specific health plan to assist them with mental health difficulties or substance use disorders.

Dial 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Although the risk of suicide is lowest during the holidays, almost 4,000 American adults and children died last December. Lippencott said it is always a good idea to memorize the new 988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Simply dial 988 anytime from any U.S. phone to reach an operator trained in talking to people in mental health crisis and finding resources to help keep them safe and direct them to treatment. Lippencott added, “One thing to remember is that you don’t have to be the person experiencing the crisis to call. You can always call on someone else’s behalf and receive assistance getting them help or learning how you can intervene before the situation worsens.”